Safety attachment for elevators



. MEYER.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1919.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

mwntoa (11H01 neufs mi //J nl LN OO Y @Vi/Immo UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

GEORGE J. MEYER, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR ELEVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentednug. 2, 1921.

Application led August 5, 1919. Serial No. 315,510.`

lhlisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in SafetyAttachments for Elevators, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to improvements in safety attachments forelevators. I

rIhe primary object of my invention is to provide means whereby doors atthe respec tive landings of an elevator well or shaft may be utilized tolock the car at any given landing, and to simultaneously lock thecontroller lever when the car has stopped at the landing and the doorhas been opened.

A. further object of my invention is to provide means whereby aninsecurely latched door will be prevented from opening after the car hasleft the landing, and whereby the operator of the car will be notifiedimmediately in case any door is unlatched while the car is in motion.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of Va portion ofan elevator shaft or well, drawn to a plane which intersects the car,and exposes the wall provided with the controllinglever and exit;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the upper portion of theV well, as shownin Fig. 1, drawn on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view, drawn onr line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

4 is an end view of the oscillatory member for locking the controllinglever, with dottedlines indicating said member in locking position, afragment of the car wall being also illustrated.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughoutthe several views.

The elevator cage or car 1 is actuated by one or more cables 2 alongguide posts 3 of the well in the ordinary manner, the car being providedwith a controlling lever 4 of ordinary type. The well is provided withwalls, or with landing cages 5 at the various ioors 6, and each of thesecages or sets of inclosing walls Lis provided with a door 7, which ispreferably suspended from the walls 5 or any other suitableoverheadsupport by parallel links 8 pivotally connected with the doornear the respective sides thereof, as indicated at l9and also pivoted tothe overhead support at 10. These links are obliquely disposed orinclined from a vertical position when the door is closed, and also whenit is in full open position, whereby the door may swing with'V apendulum motion, its lower margin being guided in a slot 11 formed inthe floor 6. This means for supporting and guiding the door is made thesubject of a separate application bearing even date herewith, and is notclaimed herein. It is referred to merely lfor the purpose of explainingthe means fornotifying the operator of an unlatched door, asvhereinafterv described.

Brackets or shouldered projections 14 and 15 are secured to the outerside of the wall 16 of the car, this being the wall provided with anexit 17, which registers with the doors 7 at the respective landingswhen the car is brought to a stop at such landings. Each of the doors 7is provided with a curved bar -18 secured to vthe inner face of the doorin a. position to Vpass between the projections 14 and 15 when` the caris in proper position, and the door is being opened. Therefore,l whenthe door has been opened, the bar 18 locks the ycar tothe door in suchVa manner that the car cannot be moved vertically in either directionwithout either tearing away the door or breaking the bar 418 from thedoor. To prevent such an accident, I provide auxiliary means for lockingthe controller lever in neutral position, which will now be described. I

The inner face of the wall 16 of the car is provided with an oscillatoryshaft 20 connected with the iwall by 'suitable bearing brackets 21 inwhich the shaft may oscillate. One end of the shaft is inv proximity tothe exit 17, and is provided with an elbowed arm 22, which extendsthrough a slot in the wall into the path of the bar 18, the latter beingtapered or rounded at 23, whereby when the car is positioned yat alanding, and the door opened, the bar 18 will'strike the outwardlyprojecting end of arm 22, and push it toward the interior of the car,thereby oscillating shaft 20. Shaft 20 is provided with a set of arms 25and 26 which normally project upwardly fromthe shaft, but which areadapted to swing towardy the interior of the car, and to receivecontrolling lever 4 between them'when said lever is in the vertical orneutral position, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Therefore, when these arms25 and 26 are swung downwardly by the oscillating shaft 20 they willnecessarily project across the path of the controllerlever 4 on eachside thereof, and prevent the lever from being swung. in eitherdirection from neutral 5 position. Inasmuch as it will be necessarytolbring the lever to neutral position in order to bring the car to restat the landing, it

' is obvious that by opening the door the controller `lever is lockedand the car is also locked to the door by the operation ofthe bar 18.

Any ordinary door latches 3Q and `31 may be employed to fasten `the door7 in its respective full open or closed positions. When fully closed,bar 18 will, of course, be retracted not only from its locking positionbetween the brackets or projections 14 and 15 on the outer face of thecar wall, but it will also be retracted from the arm 22. As itisretracted from this arm, the shaft 2O will return to normal positionunder the tension of the retractingspring 33.

If the door 7 should be insecurelylatched in closed position, it will,of course, tend to swing toward open position immediat-ely, and thusprevent the car from starting by locking the controlling lever, and alsolocking the carto the door, as above explained. But if it should be heldby the operator, or by an insecurely engaged latch in closed positionuntil the car has moved away from the landing, it would, ofcourse, tend.to swing toward open position when released. To avoid injuriesv whichmight result in such case, I preferably connect the ends of a cable35-to the bracketsy 14 and 1`5,and extend this cable around'pulleys 36and 3'( at 'the top and bottom of the well. This cableopcrates as anendless cable, since the brackets 14 and A15 and the wall of the carform a means of connection between its ends.: The

cable'is so disposed that it crosses the paths tact therewith. Thevibrations will be transmitted to the car'through the cable and noisewill instantly advise the operator that a door has openech` The, cablewill Ainthe meantime prevent the door from opening far enough to allow,any person on the associated landing to accidentally step from thelanding into the `well,`but the car maybe operated and thereby broughtto such landing, and the door properly closed by the operator `beforeproceeding on his way.`

` It will be' understood that my invention is tothe door through the bar18, and 'the applicable to any form of elevator mechanism, and any formof door or door supporting devices may be employed at the respectivelandings, but the particular means for suspending the door asillustrated herein is preferred for the reason that an unlatched doorwill immediately tend to swing toward open position, anduwill thereforegive immediate notice of the fact that it is unlatched in case the caris not at rest.`

1.'The combination with a landing door and car of an elevator mechanism,of a locking device secured to the door and adapted for interlockingengagement with the car when the door is open.`

2. The combination with a landing door and car4 of an elevator system,of means for interlocking the door with the car when the car is inregistry with the landing and the door is moved toward open position.

3. In an elevator mechanism, a landing door, and a flange carried by thedoor and adapted when the door is opened to interlock with portions ofan elevator car. Y

4. In an elevator mechanism, a landing door adapted, when opened, tomove into interlocking engagement with the car, in combination with acar having a controlling lever, and locking devices for said lever,adapted to be actuatedto locking position by the door. Y

5. In an elevator mechanism, a landing door adapted, when opened, tomove into interlocking engagement with the car, in combination with acar having a controlling lever, and locking devices for said lever,

adapted to be actuated to locking position by the door, and toautomatically release the controlling` lever when the door is closed.

6. The combination with the Awalls and landings of an elevator well, ofa car adapted to travel in said well, and provided with actuatingmechanism, doors at the respective landings 'controlling admission toandV exit 110 from the well, and acableextending over pulleys at the topand bottom of the well, and connected with the car, said pulleys beingadapted to support the cable in a position to limit the opening movementof each of the doors, except when the car is positioned at such door.

47. The combination with the walls and landings of an elevator well, ofa car adapted to travelin said well, and provided with actuatingmechanism, doors at the respective landings controlling admission to andexit from the well, and a cable extending over pulleys at the top andbottom of the well, and connected with the car, said pulleys beingadapted to support the cable in a position to limit theopening movementof Veach of the doors, except when the car is positionedrat such door,and `means connected with the door for locking the car against verticalmovement when the door has been opened to permit entrance to or exitfrom the car.

8. In an elevator mechanism, the combination with a car and a set ofrelatively stationary landing doors, of a traveling member connected to,and movable with the car, and adapted to hold distant doors in asubstantially closed position.

9. In an elevator mechanism, the combination with a car and a` series ofrelatively stationary landing doors, of a car actuated door retainingdevice in continuous door stop relation to all doors in the series whenthe car is out of registry therewith.

10. In an elevator mechanism, the combination with a car and a set ofrelatively stationary landing doors, of a door controlling memberconnected to travel vertically with the car and adapted to hold alldoors in substantially closed position when the car is out of registrytherewith.

11. In an elevator mechanism, the combination with an elevator well anda car movable therein, of a moving door stop adapted to travellongitudinally along the line of car movement in correspondence with themovement of the car, and operative to hold all doors in substantiallyclosed position, when the car is out of registry therewith.

12. In an elevator mechanism, the combination with a car and a landing,of a pendulous landing door, spaced apart projections carried by thecar, and a curved flange carried by the door and adapted to pass freelybetween said projections to an interlocking position when the car is inreg` istry with the landing.

13. In an elevator mechanism, a car, a plurality of landings, doors atsaid landings, a locking member carried by each door,

and an interacting locking device carriedv by the car adapted to secureall doors against movement except that of the landing with which the caris in registry, and to interlock with the locking member of theparticular door it allows to open.

14. In an'elevator mechanism the combination with a car provided with aoontrolling lever, of locking devices for said lever, a spring normallyholding the locking devices out of lever engaging position, and landingdoors, each provided with a controlling member adapted, when the door isopened, to swing the locking devices to locking position with a car atsuch landing and to move into interlocking relation with said car. A

155.v The combination with a landing door and car, of an elevatorsystem, of interlocking members connected with the door and carrespectively and adapted to allow the door to move freely intointerlocking relation to the car when the door is opened and the car isin correct position oi adjustment without added resistance due to theinterlocking members.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE J. MEYER. lVitnesses LEVERETT C. WHEELER,

O. C. WEBER.

